Bar that refused partially sighted man and his guide dog entry is set to donate to charity

A posh bar in Scotland is to donate up to £7,000 to charity after it refused entry to a blind man and his guide dog.

Peter Davey, who is a regular at the pub, was told by a bouncer that he could not take his guide dog Norton into the newly-refurbished Huxley hotel bar. Mr Davey was refused entry despite the fact that the law insists that working dogs have to be admitted.

According to Scotsman.com, the 59-year-old was left embarrassed and outraged by the incident, which then prompted an apology from the owners of the complex.

The owners called it a “regrettable incident” and have now pledged to donate their entire takings from this Friday evening to RNIBScotland (Royal National Institute of Blind People’s Scottish division).

Mr Davey, who lives in Tollcross, has macular degeneration and has experienced deteriorating sight loss since childhood. He told Scotsman.com: “It’s good they’re making this donation, but I’m still aware that this sort of discrimination against the disabled takes place.

“We were met by the doorman, who said we couldn’t bring Norton in.

“I asked what he meant and he said he had been given information from the general manager not to allow guide dogs in, so I asked to speak to the manager.

“When he came out he asked what the problem was, he said it was at his â€¨discretion whether he let dogs in. He said he was not going to let me in, and I explained that was against the law. There was a launch that night, and I suppose he wanted to cater to a certain clientele.”

He added: “I was taken aback when he said it – I couldn’t believe it. This was a place we had been plenty of times before and after karate and the staff had always been perfectly nice to us.”

He went on to add that he has had the Golden Labrador for five years and that they staff at the pub regularly give the dog a bowl of water while he enjoyed a drink and a chat.

While he is glad they have offered to hand over their takings, Mr Davey is undecided as to whether he will go back. Instead he says he just wants “to make people aware that this kind of thing does still happen”.

The Equality Act 2010 requires bars and restaurants not to discriminate against disabled people – including those with assistance dogs.

As you may already be aware, the training that is required to get a guide dog up to standard is very expensive and takes a long time to complete. Each puppy lives with a volunteer walker who cares for it until it is 12 to 14 months old, with the guidance and support of a supervisor.

They teach the puppy basic obedience and also get it accustomed to environments including homes, busy town centres, quiet country lanes and public transport. They then match the dogs up to their owners by taking into account the person’s needs. They consider their length of stride, walking speed, height, lifestyle, personality and whether they have any other disabilities.

In total, it costs around £50,000 to support a guide dog from birth to retirement and the training of dogs and their owners continues for up to seven years.